Adventure Films that explore the human psyche.
Long-distance hiking and spending time in the wilderness in general has been all the therapy I've ever needed. I spend long periods of time in remote areas and usually by myself. Some may call this dangerous or anti-social but those times have been absolutely essential for creating the person I am proud of being today. Now I think that enduring the combination of physical and mental challenges that wilderness offers is exactly what our bodies and minds where made to do, and it shows us who we are and it builds us into more complete human beings.
From walking to philosophizing
On the surface, my documentaries are just about walking really, really far. But somewhere along the way I realized that walking through the wilderness was a perfect metaphor for life itself. In our hyper-civilized society, many of us are missing that connection with nature that we have relied on for thousands of years to form our character. Now many of us never have the opportunity to really be tested and get to know who we are.
It has been my goal with these adventure films to visually represent the journey ones goes on when entering the unknown of the wilderness, and to show the character journey that results from that.
Hayduke Trail
The Hayduke Trail is an 800-mile route from Aches National Park to Zion National Park, in Utah and Arizona. It's a mostly trail-less route, going through canyons and rough terrain. Navigation is tricky and water is scarce, but it's one of the most beautiful and rewarding hikes in the world.
Alex Maier hiked the trail in 2018 and made the first-ever documentary about the route, called Figure it Out.
The full 90-minute film is available on Amazon Prime here,
Or a shorter 50-minute version is available on Youtube.
DVD's with bonus features can also be purchased here.
Pacific Northwest Trail
The Pacific Northwest Trail is 1,200 miles long, running from Glacier National Park in Montana to the Olympic National Park coast in Washington. I hiked it in 2015 and made the first ever documentary about the trail.
North Country Trail
The full North Country Trail is 4,700 miles long, running from North Dakota to New York. I just hiked a 550 mile section of it across Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I broke the hike up into 9 sections and made an episode about each section.